Current Affairs This Week (23-04-2017)

Hindi may become must till Class X in CBSE schools
Students of schools affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and Kendriya Vidyalyas (KVs) may have to compulsorily study Hindi till Class X with recommendations of State governments.

L&T and Hanwa Techwin to deliver guns to Indian Army
Indian engineering conglomerate Larsen & Toubro (L&T) and Hanwa Techwin of South Korea signed a contract on Friday to manufacture the K9 Vajra-T tracked, self propelled artillery guns for the Indian Army.

Modi to inaugurate UN Vesak Day in Colombo
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate UN Vesak Day in Colombo. Mr Modi will also hold meetings with the Sri Lankan leadership & are likely to finalise development cooperation agreements.

Beijing names six places in Arunachal in Chinese characters
China has reinforced its claims to Arunachal Pradesh by naming six places in the state in standardised Chinese characters, Tibetan and Roman alphabet letters.

Queen Elizabeth celebrates her 91st birthday
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, the world’s oldest and longest-reigning monarch who turned 91, celebrated her birthday in a low-key fashion privately at her Windsor Castle home near London.

China successfully launches first cargo spacecraft
China successfully launched its first unmanned cargo spacecraft, taking another crucial step towards realising the Communist giant’s ambition to have a permanently manned space station in the next few years.

Rare Mahatma Gandhi stamps sold for £500,000 in UK
A set of four rare stamps featuring with portraits of Mahatma Gandhi has been sold for a record £500,000 at an auction in the UK which, its seller said, is the highest price ever paid for Indian stamps.

India wins elections to two UN subsidiary bodies
India has won elections to two subsidiary bodies of a UN organ focussed on social and economic issues. India was elected to the Committee for Programme and Coordination (CPC), a subsidiary body of the UN Economic and Social Council.

Padma Shri award for Vikas
Vikas, a four-time Olympian was conferred with the Padma Shri award at Delhi.

Indians shine at Asian youth chess
India won four gold, five silver and three bronze to finish on top of the medal tally at the Asian youth chess championship.

Madurai Taekwondo Academy gears up for Guinness record
The 2,000 square-feet spacious ‘dojang’ (place where Taekwondo is practised) of the Madurai Takewondo Academy reverberates with as a bunch of youngsters for the Guinness record for the Largest Taekwondo Display (multiple venues).

Video gaming to be featured at 2022 Asian Games
Video gaming will be featured as a full sport at the 2022 Asian Games, with competitors in electronic sports. The Olympic Council of Asia says it will introduce esports to the official program of the Asian Games at Hangzhou, China.

Indian team for Asian Grand Prix
A 12-member Indian team will compete in the first leg of the Asian Grand Prix at Jiaxing and Jinhua, China.

Newly discovered ‘super-Earth’ could host alien life
Scientists have discovered a new Earth-like planet orbiting a red dwarf star about 40 light-years away, which may be the best place yet to look for signs of life beyond the solar system.

Plumes from Saturn’s Moon hints that it could support life
Intriguing new findings from data collected by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft suggest the possibility. Could icy moons like Saturn’s Enceladus in the outer solar system be home to microbes or other forms of alien life.

Metal atoms detected in Mars’ ionosphere
Mars has electrically charged metal atoms high in its atmosphere, according to new data from NASA’s MAVEN spacecraft. This can unveil the previously invisible activity in the mysterious electrically charged ionosphere of the red planet.

New species of 125 million-year-old dinosaur discovered
The new species belongs to a group of herbivores known as sauropods, which includes giants such as Brontosaurus and Brachiosaurus, who had long necks and pillar-like legs, said researchers from the Brigham Young University (BYU) in the U.S.

ISRO set for 1st development flight ‘game-changer’rocket
Indian Space Research Organisation plans to undertake next month the first developmental flight of a “game-changer” rocket capable of launching four-ton class of satellites from Sriharikota spaceport, says its Chairman A.S. Kiran Kumar.

New plant species found in Eastern Ghats
Species and flower named Emilia reddyi to honour NRSC scientist C. Sudhakar Reddy. Two researchers from the Andhra University and the National Remote Sensing Centre, Hyderabad, have found a new plant species in the Eastern Ghats.

With the new Google Earth,can virtually fly around the world
Google launched a re-imagined version of its free earth mapping service, weaving in storytelling and artificial intelligence and freeing it from apps.

360° video of rocket launch from NASA
NASA, in coordination with commercial cargo provider Orbital ATK and launch service major United Launch Alliance (ULA), is set to broadcast the world’s first live 360° stream of a rocket launch,

Revamped National Food Processing Mission to be launched
National Food Processing Policy which is to position India as a World Food Factory, the government will soon launch a revamped National Mission on Food Processing, according to Minister of Food Processing Industries Harsimrat Kaur Badal.

Nomura launches fintech partnership in India
As part of its attempts to encourage entrepreneurship in the financial market space, Japanese financial major Nomura has launched its ‘Voyager -Nomura FinTech Partnership’ in India.

India becoming hub of international arbitration: CJI
Chief Justice of India J S Khehar on Saturday said India is becoming a hub of international arbitration and the government’s initiative to work towards zero interference in the process will promote confidence among foreign traders.

Giant black shipworm gets energy from sulphur discovered
Scientists have discovered a bizarre species of shipworm — a giant, black worm-like animal that plants itself into mud like carrots and gets energy from noxious fumes of sulphur.

Indian junior paddlers bag three bronze medals
Indian junior paddlers bagged three bronze medals in the Belgium junior and cadet open table tennis championship.